Falling From Grace
by RealityBites289
Summary: Twin sisters enter Horizon after thier politition parents decide they can't have daughters who have issues. One is an open book, but one isn't so easy to crack.
1. Twins

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Falling From Grace

Chapter 1 Twins

Cooper and Lexis Sparks didn't speak as the black Expedition came to a short halt in front of Mt. Horizon school, way up in the mountains of the Northwest U.S. Their father shot them a look in the rearview mirror, before getting out of the driver's seat. Their mother let out an audible, and dramatic, sigh from her position in the passenger seat. The twin sisters didn't look at each other as they gathered their things and stepped out of the SUV. They didn't want to be here any more than their parents wanted to take time out of their busy schedules to make the drive up but there they were, and by the looks of the remote school, there is where they would stay.

"Now girls," their mother spoke, her stern voice lacking the compassion that should be required of a mother of two sixteen year old girls. "This is for your own good. Mt. Horizon has had much luck with helping people like you."

_People like you_. Identical scowls invaded the girl's features, the first sign of emotion since they'd began their journey from Montana six hours before. They looked to their father, for the words of harsh realism that he was known to deliver.

"You'd better behave, and do your best to get yourselves back on track. Your mother and I have enough to worry about besides the troubled actions of our selfish daughters."

It would have been hard to tell which of the twins was angrier as two people immerged from the log cabin building marked "Office", and joined the group, saving them from hearing anymore encouraging words from their parents. "You must be the Sparks family," said one of the two new comers, the man. He offered a hand to Mr. Sparks, who shook it with false enthusiasm. "I'm Peter Scarborough." He gestured to the blonde woman standing next to him. "This is Sophie Becker. She'll be one of the girls' counselors."

"Its a pleasure to meet you both." The girls scowled again at their father's friendly nature. Surely he and their mother would piss and moan about the two counselors the whole way back to Montana. Why are they dressed so casually? Why are they so happy looking, aren't they dealing with numerous kids just like our daughters? "This is my wife, Emily." He turned, and gestured to the twins. His false smile faltered as he introduced them. "This is Cooper." The one on the left, with blue streaks in her long, dark hair. "And this is Lexis." The one on the right, she had red streaks. The streaks were the only way to tell them apart, short of taking their fingerprints.

The girls didn't even attempt to feign enthusiasm or friendliness as they shook Peter and Sophie's hands. The counselors didn't seem fazed. They were, after all, used to dealing with troubled youths, and their parents, usually part of the reason their children were troubled. "Glad to meet you, girls," Peter said, smiling broadly as if he didn't even see the twin's looks of boredom and genuine displeasure at being at the school. "If you've got all of your things, Sophie will be showing you to your cabins, and I'll have a word with your parents before they leave."

Cooper and Lexis didn't respond, though they noted how their parents shared a look that very obviously stated: this had better not take long, we need to get back to the office. Sophie motioned for them to follow her and they picked up their duffels, motions in complete sync.

Peter Scarborough tried not to notice the look that Mr. and Mrs. Sparks shared before they followed him into his office. They very obviously didn't want to be there, which was nothing that Peter wasn't used to, but he tried not to notice it just the same. It was really amazing how many people had children that they didn't raise. Didn't nurture. "If you'll have a seat, this really shouldn't take long."

"What is this about, Mr. Scarborough? I thought we'd signed all the necessary papers?"

Peter didn't look at the woman as she spoke to him. Instead he opened the manilla folder that had been sitting on his desk all night. It had been sitting there since he'd recieved it, he hadn't been able to stop looking through it. It wasn't complete. "Yes you did, Mrs. Sparks. I needed to speak to you about Cooper's file."

"What about it?" Mr. Sparks didn't look very impressed that the conversation was drifting towards the younger, by four minutes, of the twins.

"Its incomplete," Peter explained, taking a mental note of the hostility the subject of Cooper brought out of her father. She obviously wasn't a daddy's girl. "See, Lexis' file contains a complete mental and emotional analysis from her therapist. Cooper's doesn't. It has barely anything at all."

Mrs. Sparks sighed. "Cooper keeps a low profile, she didn't speak as openly with the therapist as Lexis. He wasn't able to diagnose anything for Cooper, because she wouldn't tell him anything."

Peter looked down over the file. In the notes about her personality, it said she was normally very low-key, very content, but was prone to outbursts of anger. But she wouldn't speak with a therapist. Lexis' file contained pages of confessions about substance abuse, violent behavior, and even date rape, and her sister's was just the bare essentials. "So...there's no information in these files, because there is no information, at all."

Mrs. Sparks nodded. "That's correct."

Mr. Sparks shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Is there a problem, Mr. Scarborough?"

Normally, Peter would have insisted the man call him by his first name, but he hesitated. He didn't like this man. "No, I was just checking to make sure that we hadn't misplaced files, or if they were just late in arriving or something."

"Is there anything else, Mr. Scarborough? We really must be getting back."

Peter didn't think these two would be hanging around to bid their daughters a sweet farewell. "Just one more thing. Is there anything about your daughters that we should know, things that aren't in thier files?"

Mr. and Mrs. Sparks looked at each other, then turned to Peter, and shook their heads. "You have everything."

Peter nodded, though he doubted he was recieving the whole truth from them. "Thank you. We're done here. I should catch up with Sophie and your daughters, make sure everything is going alright." He stood, shook hands with both of them, and led them out to their car. They didn't offer to say goodbye to Cooper and Lexis, just sped off, leaving Peter with a very bad impression, and a deep curiousity about the personalities of their children.

Lexis Sparks was talkative, once she was away from the strict watch of her parents, Sophie concluded, as the twin with red streaks in her hair finished up the long, and troubling, description of why they were there. "In the end, we're the biggest accident in our parents lives."

"And on that happy note," Cooper said sarcastically, shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans as she turned to face Sophie. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

Sophie blinked in surprise, these having been the first words Cooper had spoken so far. "Uh, sure."

Cooper disappeared into the bathroom as Peter entered the Cliffhanger Girls dorm. He grinned at Lexis, who didn't seem impressed by his perky nature, then looked at Sophie. "Where's Cooper?"

"She's in the bathroom."

Peter did the smallest of double takes. "Did she empty her pockets?"

Sophie shook her head. "No, we had no reason to assume that she would be a danger to herself when left alone...Did we?"

Peter turned to Lexis, who's blue eyes had drifted to the floor. "Do we?"

Lexis didn't answer.

Peter went to the bathroom door and tried the knob. Locked. He glanced questioningly at Sophie. They didn't want to assume that Cooper was doing something wrong in the bathroom, but Peter remembered how her file had said nothing about her problems, and this was just the tour. The twins hadn't been searched yet. Cooper could definitely be taking advantage of the situation. "Cooper?" He knocked politely, pressing his ear to the door. He could hear her breathing, which didn't seem normal, as there was a door between them. "Cooper?!"

Lexis said heavily on a bed, and Sophie kneeled front of her. These two certainly wasted no time in testing the rules. "Lexis, do we have reason to believe that Cooper is hurting herself in there?"

Lexis took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to respond, but before she got the chance, the bathroom door opened and her sister reappeared. Cooper looked amused as she turned to face Peter. "What the hell is all the commotion about? Is that gonna happen everytime I go pee?"

She tried to brush passed Peter, but Peter saw how she was holding her sleeves tightly over her hands, and caught her arm. "I think we should see the infirmary next."

Cooper arched an eyebrow at him sarcastically. "Why?"

"Because that's where we take people after they cut themselves."

Cooper scoffed, but Sophie caught the glance that she threw at Lexis, and how Lexis looked at the floor. "Lexis didn't sell you out, Cooper."

Cooper sighed, and turned back to Peter. She peeled off her sweatshirt, revealing the tank top she wore beneath. She extended her left arm, showing a nasty gash just below her bicep. "Do I at least get to walk there myself? Or do I get cuffed?"

Peter wondered why she was being so open about it, where she said nothing to therapists, and no one, but her sister apparently, had known about what she'd done to herself, but didn't dwell on it. He took her by the arm, and after giving Sophie a meaningful glance, led her out of the room.


	2. Attempted Therapy

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Falling From Grace

Chapter 2 Punished

Sophie didn't search Lexis right away. Instead she sat next to the older twin on the bed, and waited until Lexis looked up at her. She wore an angered expression, though Sophie would have to admit that it was half-assed. Lexis didn't seem to be as angry about her situation as Cooper. "So," Sophie said, twisting her fingers together nervously. "Cooper doesn't want to be here, does she?"

Lexis made a rude snorting noise. "What tipped you off, Barbie?"

Sophie blinked at the outburst of sarcasm. And did Lexis just call her Barbie? "No, my name's Sophie."

"I know," Lexis said, looking back down at her hands. "I meant like the doll."

"Oh."

"And no, Cooper doesn't want to be here."

"Do you?"

Lexis didn't respond immediately. Sophie gave her time to think her answer over. "I don't like not having control over my life, over my actions, and I honestly can't remember the last time I was in control." She took a shaky breath. "I want to change, I don't want to be a slave to my bad habits anymore."

Sophie nodded, knowing the feeling, and being able to relate. "But Cooper?"

Lexis gave Sophie a long sideways glance. "Cooper has issues."

"Like what kind of issues?"

"You think I don't know what you're doing? I bet Peter's off quizzing Cooper about me. The old play one twin against the other..." She picked at her fingernails. "Well, Coop and I have been through a lot of therapy sessions, and they've all done the same thing."

Sophie nodded, mentally kicking herself for understating the twin's connection. Surely Lexis wouldn't give up things about Cooper that Cooper didn't want her to. And Cooper...well, Lexis was pretty much an open book, or so her file said. It looked as though Lexis was eager to get help for herself, but had no problem with keeping secrets for her sister. "Well, we promise not to resort to that, if you'll cooperate with us."

Lexis looked at her, suspicious. "Cooperate how?"

"Cooper cuts herself, correct?" A small nod. "And you know why. Correct?"

"Not really."

Sophie hesitated. "You don't know why?"

Lexis sighed. "There's no one reason a person cuts themselves, Sophie. Its very complicated, as is Coop."

Sophie stood up, seeing the Cliffhanger girls walking towards the dorm through the window. She looked at her watch. Classes were over. Her quizzing session with Lexis would have to wait. "Well, your roommates are coming back from class, I'll introduce you, then we'll head back to the office for your search."

Lexis nodded, standing up. She looked towards the door as three girls walked in. Two brunettes and a blonde. The very skinny brunette on the right broke out into a grin. "Newbie?"

Sophie nodded, gesturing towards Lexis. "This is Lexis Sparks, she and her sister Cooper will be joining you girls."

Lexis shook hands with all three girls. The skinny brunette was Juliette. The bored looking brunette was Daisy. And the mean looking blonde was Shelby. Lexis grasped Shelby's hand a little longer than normal, as she saw something distinctly familiar in the blonde girl's eyes. Abandonment. Fear. Alienation. The feeling that, though you haven't told them, everyone knows your secrets, and everyone is laughing at you behind your back.

It was the same look she saw in Cooper's eyes.

"You got a staring problem, Newbie?"

Lexis blinked out of her thoughts, and dropped the blonde girl's hand. "S-sorry."

Sophie, noticing the sudden change in Lexis' nature, took the new girl by the elbow. "I think we should head to Peter's office and get this search over with."

Lexis nodded, her eyes glued to the floor. "Yeah. Whatever." She stooped to retrieve her bags, chancing a look at Shelby, who was staring down at her questioningly. "What?"

"Your name is Lexis?"

"Yeah," Lexis said, shrugging. "What can I say? My parents wanted a new car."

"And they settled for twin daughters?"

"Sucky deal, huh?" Lexis said, revealing more about her relationship with her parents than she'd ever realize. For someone would have had to put it in her head that her parents had settled for their kids, and that it'd been a bad deal, and judging from the animosity Sophie had witnessed earlier, she had a pretty good idea who that was.

Sophie tightened her grip on Lexis' elbow, leading her towards the door. "C'mon Lexis, we'll see if Peter's done lecturing Cooper yet."

Lexis tore her eyes away from Shelby, and followed Sophie out the door.

"So, Cooper. Anything you wanna talk about?"

Cooper glared at Peter over the nurse's shoulder. The plump Hispanic woman was busy bandaging the clean slice in Cooper's arm, pulling gauze pads and medical tape tight around her bicep, all the while muttering incoherently to herself. Cooper had a mouthful of snide remarks she wanted to throw at peter, but she settled for just glaring.

"I think that bandage will hold for now, Gloria."

Cooper thanked Peter silently for calling the nurse off. The woman was talking a blue streak under her breath, and smelled strongly of disinfectant. Cooper's thanks faded quickly as the nurse left the office, shutting the door behind her. Cooper was alone in the windowless room with Peter. Sarcasm kicked in to helped fight off her nerves. "I suppose you think that I'm gonna talk to you just because you called off the skitzo nurse?"

Peter brought his chair over to the side of the bed that Cooper sat on, and sat down. "No. I think you're going to talk, because you know that if you don't get it over with now, I'm just going to be your shadow for as long as it takes for you _to_ tell me."

Cooper, knowing that he probably meant what he was saying, felt defeated. She'd been there less than an hour and already he'd convinced her to spill. "What do you want to know?"

"Lets start with why you cut yourself in the bathroom," Peter said, leaning back in his chair. To the untrained eye he looked completely at ease, calm, cool and collected. But Cooper had seen so many therapists in her life that reading Peter was as easy as it came. She could practically see him going over her files in his mind, trying to place things together, trying to fill in the blanks that she knew were there.

"Because had I tried to cut myself in the bedroom, Sophie would have seen me."

Peter let a slow breath out through his teeth. "Okay. How about this: what made you want to cut yourself?"

Cooper opened her mouth, then closed it. Opened it again. Closed it again. This was a tough question, even for her to answer. "I guess...I don't know."

Peter sat forward. "You don't know? That's not an answer, Cooper."

Cooper glared at him. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to be honest with me."

"Why should I?" Cooper stood up, pulling her sweatshirt on, and pulling the sleeve down fiercely over her bandages. "I've known you for what? Ten seconds? There's things about me my best friends don't know, things I wouldn't even tell Lexis, and they're exactly the questions that I know you want to ask me."

"Maybe its time you told someone," Peter said, standing as well. "Talking about it makes you feel better."

"Sure it does. It makes it feel better, but it doesn't make it go away. Its always there, always haunting me, and by talking about it I'm just bringing more people into my problems. I don't need anymore people involved in my problems."

Peter took a step towards her, watching as she flinched and stepped back. He noted the reaction, but didn't dwell on it. "We're here to help you, that's what Sophie and I do."

"I don't want your help. They're my problems, not yours." Cooper found the doorknob behind her, turned it, and left the room.


	3. First Impressions, Creepy Vibes, and Que...

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Falling From Grace

Chapter 3 First Impressions, Creepy Vibes, and Questions

Cooper couldn't help but scowl as she brushed her teeth that night. She was crammed into a bathroom with four other girls, three of which she knew only by name, who were both welcoming and not-so-welcoming. She was more than a little tempted to "accidentally" spit her toothpaste onto Shelby's hand. Shelby had been sarcastic, and as close to mean as she could manage with Sophie looking over her shoulder as she was introduced to Cooper, earlier in the day. After she'd managed to get away from Peter and his attempted therapy sessions she'd been caught outside by Sophie, who had led both she and Lexis back to the dorm. Juliette and Daisy were nice enough, Jules was a little to perky for Cooper's taste, and Daisy a little on the morbid side, but they were nice enough. Shelby on the other hand acted as if she had one up on Cooper. Again Cooper found it tempting to spit on Shelby's hand.

Luckily, Shelby finished brushing her teeth and left the bathroom before Cooper could give in to temptation.

Lexis moved to the sink that Shelby had just vacated, and looked at her sister's reflection. "How'd things go in the infirmary?" She asked quietly.

Cooper shrugged, rinsing her toothbrush. "Fine. I got bandaged up, Peter tried to figure out why I cut myself, and I ran out. Pretty much the norm."

Lexis nodded, tying her hair back away from her face as she got ready to wash her face. "So...you didn't get any creepy vibes or anything?"

Cooper sighed, tearing her eyes away from her sister's in the mirror, gazing down at her shaky hands. Jules left the bathroom, and Daisy was taking a trip into Daisyland, but even if they'd all been locked into a separate, sound-proofed room Cooper wouldn't have wanted to have the conversation Lexis was creeping towards. "No," she whispered. "I didn't get any creepy vibes, Lex. But I've lost quite a bit of faith in my ability to judge people in these past few years."

Lexis, deciding to abandon her path of conversation, put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Coop. This probably won't be for very long, you know how Mom and Dad can be."

Cooper didn't say anything, just gave her sister a meaningful look and left the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Daisy and Lexis had left the bathroom as well and as everyone was crawling into bed the door of the dorm creaked open and Peter's loud voice could be heard in the hall. "Is everyone decent?"

Cooper rolled her eyes as everyone answered, and pulled the covers up over her head. She closed her eyes and tried to make her breathing as even as possible. She didn't fool anyone. Peter pulled her covers down enough so he could see her face. "What?" She asked, not opening her eyes.

"I never got a chance to have you empty your pockets."

"So?"

"So, whatever you used to cut yourself earlier you still have. Hand it over."

Cooper rolled her eyes and got out of bed. She made her way over to where she'd ditched the pants she'd worn that day and reached into the pocket. She handed the razor blade to Peter, who looked down at it like this was too easy. "There you go, can I go to bed now?"

"This is it?"

Cooper nodded. "Yeah."

"And it comes without a fight?"

"Yeah."

Peter gave her a wary look, but must have decided to not push his luck, as he nodded and headed for the door. "Thank you. Good night ladies."

He received a wave of mumbled grunts in response.

"Coop."

Cooper knelt next to Lexis' bed. "What?"

"Was that really all you had in your pocket?"

Cooper looked down. "What do you think?"

Peter dropped the razor blade that Cooper had given him on his desk and sat down. He stared at it intently for a few moments before the door opened and Sophie entered his office. She pulled a chair up to his desk and sat next to him. "What's the matter?"

"That's the blade Cooper gave me."

Sophie glanced at it, then back at Peter. "She gave it to you? Without a fight of any sort?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't seem right, does it?"

"No, it doesn't...What do you think she's getting at?"

Peter shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know. It could be that she wants help, but doesn't know how to ask for it. Or it could be that she was trying to get us off her back by handing it over. Or -"

"She could have had more than one in her pocket, handed you one and said that it was it."

Peter nodded. "Or that."

"So," Sophie said, leaning back in her chair as well. "What do we do about it? Do we go into the dorm and raid her things, do we wait it out...what?"

"Well, she's probably got it all planned out, and if she's handed this one over," Peter said, gesturing to the bloodstained blade that sat on top of Cooper's file. "She'll wait a little bit before she uses the one she still has, you know, just so its not suspicious."

"That's a pretty well thought out plan."

Peter shrugged. "Obviously, there's more to Cooper than anyone's let on. I think that she's hiding behind Lexis, who wants help, so Cooper's thinking all the attention will be on her sister. Which, is pretty smart, for someone who hasn't been shuffled to a million different schools for troubled kids."

Sophie let out a breath through her teeth. "So...We wait it out, because no matter what she's got planned, she's bound to slip up sometime."

"Everybody stumbles, Soph. This girl is no different."

Lexis grumbled incoherently as she turned towards the window and was blinded by the bright sunlight. She forced her eyes open, and looked around. Shelby, Daisy, and Jules were still asleep, but Cooper was gone. "Dammit, Coop," Lexis mumbled, rolling out of bed and slipping her bare feet into her flip-flops.

Lexis left the dorm as quietly as she could manage in flip-flops, and scanned the grounds for Cooper. She found her a ways off to the left, lying spread eagle on the grass, as if waiting for something. Lexis sat next to her twin, but didn't say anything.

"Go away Lex, I'm fine."

"No you're not," Lexis said, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Do I ever?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lexis laid back, and spread out her limbs like Cooper. She closed her eyes against the bright sun and sighed. "I'm just gonna lay here with you for awhile."

"Whatever."

Peter and Sophie were up early, running as usual. They left Horizon when the kids were all still asleep, and were surprised to see two people awake when they returned. Peter doubled over on the road next to where Cooper and Lexis were sprawled out on the grass, breathing heavily. "What're you girls doing up so early?"

Lexis turned to look at him. "Relaxing. What're you two doing up so early?"

"Exercising," Sophie said, wiping sweat off her forehead.

Lexis made a face. "Looks like fun," she said sarcastically.

"Since you guys are up," Peter said, straightening. "How about you go help with breakfast?"

Cooper opened her eyes and sat up. "How about not?"

"No, you don't get it," Sophie said. "That wasn't a question."

Cooper scowled at her. "Fine. Which plate is yours? You know, so I don't accidentally put any crushed glass in your eggs or anything."

"Uh..." Peter started, glancing at Sophie. "Lexis, why don't you go with Sophie, she'll show you the kitchens. Cooper, you come with me. I have to ask you some questions."

Cooper rolled her eyes, and shared a meaningful look with Lexis. "I don't think I have the answers to the questions you're planning on asking."

"Well, you'll never know until I ask."


	4. Strangeness of Fear

**Falling From Grace**

Chapter 4 - Strangeness of Fear

Cooper followed at a distance behind Peter as he led the way to his office, but he didn't think it was an act of defiance. He could sense her eyes on his back as he walked, and he could see her features tense with nerves as he glanced back over his shoulder to make sure she was still there. He wondered what would make her that tense. Defiant, angry, and even a little dangerous, he'd seen all of those before. The school specialized in kids that thought they didn't have anything to lose, he'd seen just about everything, but never had he seen a student who was so two-faced. She was completely void of emotion one second, then a puddle of goo the next. And the nerves. She shook constantly, which was not a sign of a healthy-minded, strong individual.

What would make her shake like that?

Substance abuse? Sure.

A violent past? Definitely.

Fear? He wasn't so sure about that last one. Why would she be afraid? He was just another councelor in a long list of people who had tried to help her, and he didn't really know much about her. She kind of had the upper hand in this situation. So why would she be afraid?

It was obvious that the girl had a problem with authority, but that was a pattern with kids like her. Over the years it had become something of a requirment to be in the ranks of the "screwed up kids". So that didn't bother him. What bothered him that it seemed to be a facade, a mask she hid behind, much like her sister's openness, to cover up the fact that she actually _feared_ authority figures. The kids that passed through Horizon had a lot of opinions about the teachers, but Peter couldn't remember one that was afraid of them. They were too close to the end of their ropes for fear.

And yet there it was, etched into Cooper's features clear as day. Fear.

Sophie watched silently as Lexis broke an egg effortlessly with one hand. She didn't get any shells in the pan, and she didn't get any egg on herself. Sophie had been cooking for years, and had never been able to do that. There were chefs that probably couldn't do that. Apparently Cooper wasn't the only sister with a few tricks up her sleave.

"What?"

Sophie blinked at Lexis blankly. "Pardon?"

Lexis supressed an eye-roll. "You were staring at me. Why?"

Sophie looked down at the frying pan they were manning, where the eggs had started to sizzle visiously, and cleared her throat nervously. Getting caught staring at a student wasn't the smartest way to go. It gave them something on you. It also made them uncomfortable. "Uh...I was just impressed by the way you cracked that egg. Where did you learn to do it?"

Lexis smirked a little at the teacher's jitters. "Carrie."

"Who was Carrie?"

"Our maid."

Sophie glanced up at Lexis, but the girl was focused on pushing the eggs around the pan with a spatula. Maid? The twins' files had mentioned that their families had been well-off financially, but a maid? As in someone who did things for them? The girls hadn't had daily chores, or done their own laundry or anything? That would certainly play into things later on then, because the students were expected to do things for themselves. Laundry and other chores included. "You had a maid?"

Lexis nodded. "Yeah. Carrie."

Sophie resisted the urge to glare at the girl. She was being cryptic on purpose and there wasn't any reason for it. It wasn't like they were talking about something that would reveal secrets about either sister. Unless, of course, the maid had played a large part in the downward spiral the girls had fallen into. But Sophie seriously doubted the maid's involvement. Very rarely was the maid the drug dealer...But, she had to admit, she'd seen stranger. "Are you going to elaborate at all?"

Lexis shrugged, skillfully avoiding Sophie's prodding gaze. "What's there to tell? She was our maid from the time we were born up until about a month ago. We loved her, she loved us, our parents fired her..." Lexis heaved a sigh that gave her away. "End of story."

Sophie didn't pry, because Lexis had visibly moved from careless to angry, but she knew that there was no way in hell that that was the end of the story.

"Why are you nervous?"

_Dammit._

"I'm not."

_Liar._

"I think you are."

_No shit?_

"And you know everything?"

_No._

"No."

Cooper glanced up at Peter and saw that he was staring back at her intently. It made her squirm, which made her scowl, which didn't help the situation at all. She wasn't trying to make Peter like her, but she wasn't trying to give him a reason to shadow her either. Surely, pissing him off wouldn't do her any good at all. "No?"

"No, I don't think I know everything." He shifted his gaze down to the manilla folder on his desk, and Cooper chanced an eye-roll. She knew what was in that folder. Many years of carefully saying only what needed to be said to get her by, and nothing more, were in that folder. A purposfully sketchy story about a broken girl was in that folder, with blanks in crucial areas that she wasn't positive she could fill. Not without breaking down anyway. Breaking down was not fun. Cooper couldn't say that it was high on her list of things to do in the near future.

"Then what do you know?"

"That there's things you're not telling me," he said, choosing to ignore her expression as he stated the obvious. "And that I _can_ help you...If you'd let me."

"I don't think so," Cooper said, slouching farther down into her chair until her ear-lobes touched her shirt collar. Peter half-expected her head to disappear into her shirt in her attempts to shy away from him.

"Why not?"

"Pain runs deep."

"I'm aware."

Cooper's eyes flashed with an indescribable emotion, and she twisted her fingers together nervously. "Then why do you ask so much of me?"

"Cooperation?"

"To relive it."

"That bad?"

Cooper gave him a solemn nod, and if the expression on her face was an indecation, she hadn't meant to respond. "I mean...you know...it all seems bad when it's happenening." Her features contorted in annoyance as her grey eyes found the floor, and Peter guessed that she was wishing she'd left it at the nod, and not added to her discomfort by speaking.

Peter picked up the manilla folder and held it out to Cooper. Her eyes met his reluctantly, as she carefully appraised him. She wasn't sure what he was trying to prove by offering her folder like that. Sure, she'd never read what was in there, but she knew most of it. As they could only put in what she told them, and she was positive that her parents hadn't offered up any additional information, but there was a part of her that was curious as to what it said. Exactly. Word for word, what she was on paper. She wanted to know what all of her therapists and councelors thought when they first read about her, what she was compared to what people anticipated.

Peter read the curiousity as it spread across her face, and pushed the file closer to her. "Take it. Read it." Slowly, very slowly, she reached for it, but just as her fingers grazed the edge, Peter pulled it back. "On one condition."

Fear flashed in Cooper's grey eyes for a split second, but then it was gone. Peter chose not to dwell on the strangeness of fear being the first emotion to grace her features until later, as she spoke. "What is it?" she whispered, looking as if she'd rather not know.

"When you give it back to me, you've filled in some of the blanks."

"Huh?"

"There's a sheet in there," Peter explained, nodding to the folder. "That we have the parents fill out about the child. We have one that's mostly full for Lexis, yours is close to empty. I want you to fill it out, so that maybe I can figure out how to help you."

Cooper stared at him, openly annoyed with the proposition. She was quiet for close to a minute before asking; "And if I don't?"

"Then we keep on having these one-on-one meetings until it's complete."

Cooper didn't contemplate the deal a second longer, just snatched the folder out of Peter's hands and ran from the office.


	5. A Tiny Bit Psycho

**Falling From Grace**

Chapter 5 - A Tiny Bit Psycho

The ax came down with a sickening thud, inches from the booted foot next to her sneakered one.

"Yo, Coop, watch where you're swinging that thing."

Cooper chose to ignore Scott as he gave her a half-amused, half-annoyed look. They'd been assigned to chopping wood, and Cooper was showing off how useless her arms were. A part of her missed the muscles she used to have, but a part of her knew it would take a lot to get herself back to what she once was. And that part of her was the part that just didn't care.

"Cooper, are you going to stand there all day? I can't do this by myself."

Cooper raised her eyes to glare at Scott. "You could."

He shrugged. "Yeah, but you're the one with the ax, not me. Swing away...away from my foot."

If Cooper were as mentally unstable as her file would have her believe, she would have listened to the devil on her shoulder, and cut Scott's baby toe off right then. But, she wasn't that unstable, and her next swing split the wood into two very uneven halves. The devil on her shoulder flicked her earlobe, and Cooper sighed at an oppurtunity missed.

Maybe she _was_ that unstable...

"You're sister's a psycho."

Lexis didn't look at Shelby as she answered. "You're not the first to think that."

Shelby shot Lexis a sideways look, interest barely masked in her features. The blonde was quiet for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not she wanted to ask. She knew from experience how screwed up the people who came to Horizon could be, she herself was a prime example...Did she really want to know what this new girl had done? "What do you mean?" She asked carefully, spraying water on the plate that Lexis handed her.

Lexis stopped scrubbing plates for a moment, and looked out the window over the sink, where she could see Cooper bring the ax down a third time, two halves of wood flying in opposite directions as a loud crack filled the air. Scott retrieved the wood while Cooper hefted the ax into the air, a slight wince coming to her face as she realized it's weight. Lexis sighed quietly, looking back down at the plates as she recalled how strong Cooper used to be. How strong they both used to be. Lexis had started lifting weights again a few months before coming to Horizon, and she'd tried to convince Cooper to start too. The satisfaction of working-out had been the only thing keeping Lexis from her father's liquor cabinet these last few months, and she'd wanted her sister to know what it was like to have control over just that little part of her life again. Cooper had refused, waved the suggestion away, a vacant look on her face. The recollation made Lexis' throat tighten, and her eyes darken.

Cooper was once -

"Lexis?"

Lexis startled, and looked at Shelby. What had she asked? "Hmm?"

"I asked what you meant, about Cooper being psycho?"

"Oh," Lexis mumbled, passing another plate to Shelby. "Well...I meant that..." Lexis sighed. "Look, you know as well as I do what it takes to get in here, and Coop...It's like Coop's life story was written straight from the check-list...She's angry, she's been hurt, she feels alienated....she's got one hell of a temper, she's just naturally fiery like that, and when you add it all together..." Lexis paused and clapped her hands together loudly. "BOOM. You get psycho."

Shelby glanced out the window in time to see Scott jump back, Cooper drop the ax, and the two storm off in their seperate directions, their task of chopping wood forgotten. "Has she ever done anything...I don't know, to...prove the alligations?"

Lexis hesitated before answering. She knew a lot of people like Shelby. The types of people who had it real bad, but didn't talk about it, and got their kicks out of exploring other people's issues, while at the same time realizing some people had it worse than they did. Lexis didn't want to be the reason Shelby felt better about herself, and she certainly didn't want this new girl, whom she didn't know very well, to know too much about Cooper. But...at the same time...if there was just one more person in the world who understood Cooper, that would make both of their lives just that much easier.

"Well...she's..." Lexis took a moment to form her sentence. "Coop got expelled last year."

Surprise flashed in Shelby's blue eyes, like she'd thought Cooper's anger was just a facade. "What'd she do?"

"She threatened the football captain with a baseball bat."

Shelby blinked at her. "Excuse me?"

Lexis nodded, to show that she'd heard right. "Cooper went after Nick Feilds with a baseball bat. It was right in the middle of second lunch too, she marched into the cafeteria with the bat in her hands, and would have taken his head off had Rob Peters not been there to stop her." Lexis wasn't sure what she thought of the tone of pride in her voice as she retold the story.

Shelby made a surprised noise. "They expelled her for threatening him?"

Lexis shrugged. "His father threatened the schoolboard that if she wasn't removed he'd stop the donations...Nick Feilds deserved it, though, he was a prick."

"What'd he do to Cooper?"

"To deserve a baseball bat to the head?"

"Yeah."

"He called her a whore."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Wow, over-reaction...I'm glad I don't take a bat to someone everytime I'm called a whore."

Lexis couldn't control the anger boiling in her stomach at the blonde's misinformed words. "This is different."

"How?"

"You'll have to ask Coop that one, she'd take a bat to me if I told you."

Peter blinked in surprise as he watched Scott come tearing into his office, looking angry as a wet-hen. What had the boy so riled up? "Can I help you, Scott?"

The blonde boy threw himself into the chair across from Peter and took a few deep breaths. "You have to do something about Cooper."

Peter sat up straighter at the mention of his angry new student. What had she done now? And why was Scott so visibly peeved about it? "What'd she do?"

"She tried to cut my foot off! Why the hell is she chopping wood? She's crazy!"

A tiny part of Peter was amused at the thought of little Cooper trying to cut football player Scott's foot off with an ax. The girl didn't even look like she could lift an ax, let alone get enough leverage to chop someone's foot off. That was exactly why he'd assigned her to chopping wood, because he knew it would be hard for her, and he needed a way to get a reaction. Obviously, she'd given him one. "She tried to cut your foot off?"

"Yeah, twice. The first time I thought it was an accident, but the second time she definitely meant to."

"What makes you say that?"

Scott looked incredulous. "She smiled about it! The ax was an inch from my foot, and she smiled. Then she swung up like she was going to try again, and I told her to put the ax down."

"Then?"

"She dropped it on the ground and we went out seperate ways."

Peter scratched his lip to hide his smile. Scott's reaction was reasonable for someone who believed they'd almost lost a limb, but Peter wasn't thinking that Cooper had meant to do it at all. "I'll talk to her about it."

"That's it? You're just gonna talk to her? Why don't you give her more chores or something?"

Peter sat forward, and Scott looked angrier than ever at his amusement. "Scott, do you really think Cooper would cut off your foot? She's just a little girl."

"She may be tiny, but she's _psycho_."


	6. Insight

****

Falling From Grace

Chapter 6 - Insight

Cooper glared down at the paper in her hands, wondering what the hell Peter expected to prove by having her fill it out. It asked all of the clichéd questions you'd expect when dealing with a perpetually screwed up adolescent. When did he/she start acting out? What kinds of things did they do? What sort of outbursts, if any, can be reported? Does said child have a criminal record? Does said child have a history of violent acts? Does said child have a history of intense anger? All of the things Cooper was sure her parents had been asked dozens of times before, but had never taken the time to answer. Surely they had viewed Peter's questions as trivial, for they had brought her here hadn't they? Why wouldn't she fall under most, if not all, categories of "troubled youth"?

With a loud, shaky sigh, Cooper picked up the pencil she'd set down numerous times already, and touched it lightly to the first blank on the paper. She skipped the first seven questions, and answered the first one she had a vivid recollection of.

_Q: Does said child have a criminal record? _

A: Yes.

Q: If so, what were the details of arrest?

A: Got drunk, stole a car, got caught. Parents bailed me out. End of story.

Q: Does said child have a history of violent acts?

A: Occasionally.

Q: If so, what are the details?

A: Tried to run Brayden McCarthy over with a car. (Strike 1; Warning) Bashed Isaac Raymond's face off a locker. (Strike 2; Suspension) Tried to beat Nick Fields' face in with baseball bat. (Strike 3; Expelled).

Q: Does said child have a history of intense anger?

A: See above.

Q: Does said child have a history of substance abuse?

A: Does a bear shit in the woods?

Q: Has said child reported any instances of physical/sexual/verbal abuse?

A: No.

After answering the seventh question, Cooper put down her pencil and pushed the paper away. Her hands were shaking too badly to write, and her eyes were blurred by tears that she refused to cry again. Peter would have to be happy with the few answers she'd provided, because she wasn't answering anymore.

Lexis didn't like Juliette, and she wasn't sure why. Sure, the girl was perky, and annoyingly cheerful, but it was easy to see that it was all an act to mask the scars that ran too deep to cover completely. Despite the wide, cheerleader smile, Jules was hurting just as badly as everyone else, but Lexis had no sympathy for her. She contemplated what this said about her personality as she pushed her dinner around on her plate. The chicken wasn't half as bad as it looked, but Lexis couldn't bring herself to eat anything. Not on the third anniversary of the day she'd destroyed a life...

"So, I got a postcard from Kat today."

Juliette's voice cut through Lexis' thoughts like a knife, and she blinked as the mess hall came back into focus. Jules was passing a tacky postcard with a sailboat on it to Auggie, who read the note slowly before passing it on to Daisy. The pale-faced girl smiled a little as she read the note, and Lexis' curiosity got the best of her. "Who's Kat?

Jules' looked mildly surprised at the sudden sound of Lexis' voice as the new girl spoke for the first time all dinner. "Um, she was our roommate last year. She graduated and moved out to the East to become a social worker."

Lexis nodded, and smiled politely. The story did little to spark her interest further, as she didn't know the girl they spoke of, but it was comforting to know that people got out of Horizon. That they graduated and moved on, like normal people. If there was hope for this Kat person, maybe there was hope for Lexis and Cooper.

The ray of sunshine didn't shine on Lexis long, though, for she soon faded back into her thoughts, and became just as troubled as before. Sure, maybe this Kat had graduated, but did she carry the burden of knowing she'd destroyed another human life? Did she walk around everyday knowing that she was living a life she didn't deserve, while someone who'd had a chance at life had been robbed? _No_, Lexis thought darkly, as she stood up to take care of her dishes. _Only I'm privy to that particular luxury_.

"Are you thinking about Cooper?"

Peter didn't look up at Sophie as she sat next to him on the couch, just kept his gaze focused on the muted TV where Lucy and Ricky were arguing enthusiastically about something that did little to capture his attention. "Yeah," was his dull response.

Sophie moved close enough so she could rest her head on his shoulder, and directed her eyes to the TV. "She's going to be hard to crack."

"Yeah."

"So I talked to Lexis today."

Peter blinked and glanced down at her. "Yeah? What'd she have to say?" Even if he hadn't made any progress with Cooper, maybe Sophie had gotten somewhere with Lexis.

"She told me about their maid, the one they loved, but their parents fired," Sophie explained, unable to keep the unimpressed tone out of her voice. Not only were the Sparks' paying no attention to their kids, but they were keeping others from doing so as well. Sophie had had a very low opinion of them from the start, but with each passing day, and each revelation from Lexis, she found herself hating them more and more.

Peter set his jaw. "Why would they fire the maid? She was probably the only authority figure in the girls' lives."

Sophie nodded. "I know."

Peter shook his head, and switched the TV off. "I think there's much more going on here than either of those girls are revealing, or maybe even aware of."

Sophie picked her head up so she could look at him better. He was tense, and angry, with his jaw set and his feet tapping. "What's the matter?"

"Cooper's afraid of me."

"Afraid of you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, like, shaky, tense, fidgety afraid of me."

Sophie found herself wondering about the events in a young girl's life that would make her fear a man. The possibilities were frightening. "Why would you think that?"

"I can see it in her eyes, in her movements...Its fear."

"Do you think she was abused?"

Peter shrugged. "Its a definite possibility...I'll just have to wait and see what she writes down for me."

"You gave her the file, then?"

"Yeah, and she only took it because I promised that if she did there'd be no more one-on-one sessions."

Sophie sighed, and made herself comfortable again. Neither of them could deny what Cooper's fear could mean. It could mean that she was abused by a man in her past, and most likely someone she'd trusted. But it hadn't been in her file, so either her parents hadn't known about it, or they didn't want someone else to know about it. Both possibilities had their terrifying aspects.


End file.
